A Travel & Culture Blog For People Who Hate Tourists

About Why Am I Not There?

My name is Christopher. I wrote the indie rock music blog MusicSnobbery.com for nine years. With my 3,000+ posts, I chronicled the highs and lows of the music scene in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, London and places beyond. It was a hell of ride, until indie rock and going to rock shows because a chore and not fun anymore. So I gave it up.

Then I quit my job of 15 1/2 years, the one paid that me so I can afford to go to rock shows and travel around the world. It’s not exactly a “quit your job, live your dream” scenario, but you get the picture. If the dream was to not work and sleep in, than it would be correct. Turning 40 does that to you.

After a year of failing to immigrate to London and traveling to a few places, I was luckily enough to find a job in travel full-time. In January 2016, I became the site director at an upstart travel website and video network, TravelSavvy.TV. Then I got laid off four months in, so my career in the travel industry was short lived.

The same attitude I had with MusicSnobbery.com I will bring to my new writing venture, WhyIAmNotThere. TravelSnobbery doesn’t convey my thoughts on travel because I think a first-time visit to a city should be a mix of touristy sights and what the locals do. Sometimes, those two ideas intersect.

While there are many travel blogs out there and better traveled writers, I hope to bring a unique perspective. It’s critical, caustic, sarcastic, but hopefully funny and amusing.

This is not a blog about backpacking, staying in hostels and bathing in bus stop sinks. You won’t read me waxing poetic about certain cities and discovering myself nonsense. I like concrete, cities at night, day-drinking, buying cool things and finding out where the locals go.

You will not see pictures of me doing a hand-stand in front of Machu Picchu or zip-lining through Guatemala. You won’t see pictures of me at all, except for this post at Shibuya Crossing. Maybe a thumb, here and there. It won’t be a series of one-uppers on the various places I’ve been.

I might even be making fun of you. Tourists and vacationers bore me with their fanny packs, their over packing, their oblivious nature and selfie sticks. It’s time we take them to task.

As with my previous blog, the goal is too not make a living off of this, and try to stay as independent as possible with my view points. For example, Amsterdam … over-rated. Venice … smells fowl and you’ll be bored quickly.

I will also avoid the clickbait headlines and listicles like “20 Places That Will Blow Your Fucking Mind”, “10 Apps To Up Your Selfie Game” or “The 25 Best Cities To Take A Piss Before You Die”. More than likely, the author of those stories has never actually gone to the places.

Obviously, the site will evolve around time. When my experiences have dried up, I’ll post some travel news of new hotels and airline routes. If there’s a new attraction, hotel, store or restaurant, I will highlight it. I have theme posts in mind, like these: